ECONNECTIONS
Rabbits
by Karen Dusek

One evening in early spring, when I was working in my garden at our educational farm, I heard a squeal from one of the other gardens. While removing a layer of hay mulch, one of our community gardeners had uncovered a nest of newborn rabbits. Hoping that we had not scared away the mother, we carefully covered the nearly naked babies. Soon after, they disappeared.

That summer it seemed there were rabbits everywhere we looked, munching on tender lettuce leaves and daring my dogs to chase them around the garden paths. Since the breeding season of Eastern cottontails, the species found in my hometown and in Michigan, begins in February and continues to September and females can have three or four litters per year with an average litter size of four or five, and since they usually stay close to their place of birth, my perception was probably not too far off base. I like to think of those several months as the Year of the Rabbit (much more pleasant than the Year of the Rat, which we also experienced).

Having grown up with such likable characters as Flopsy, Mopsy and Peter; the White Rabbit; Br'er Rabbit; Thumper; Bugs Bunny; the Hare and the Tortoise; and, everyone's favorite Lagomorph, the Easter Bunny, most of us have an affinity toward rabbits and their cousins, the hares. Who can resist the critters' innumerable charms-- their sleek, soft fur; large, gentle eyes (which allow them to see at night and in a range of almost 360 degrees); long, upright ears (which can be moved separately to hone in on distant sounds); and oversized hind feet that they can use to signal danger, run at speeds up to 20 mph and jump as high as 10 feet (jack rabbits and hares can run 30 to 35 mph and jump as high as 12 feet!)

The "Peterson Field Guide to the Mammals of North America" lists 15 species of rabbits and hares that inhabit our continent. Southern Michigan is home to only one -the Eastern cottontail, while snowshoe hares can be found in the Upper Peninsula. Because rabbits are such prolific reproducers, most species are thriving, despite the fact that they are prey to a host of carnivorous mammals, as well as birds of prey, and that millions are killed by hunters, farmers and automobiles every year. According to the California Center for Wildlife, more rabbits are killed by hunters than all other game animals combined and only 15 percent of all rabbits survive to the next year. The average life span in the wild is just six months to two years.

One exception is the swamp rabbit, which lives in the southern United States and depends on wetlands for its survival. Since wetlands are rapidly disappearing, swamp rabbit populations are on the decline.

Rabbits munch mostly on grass. As a matter of fact, other foods, like garden crops and weeds in summer and tree seedlings and bark in winter, make up only about 10 percent of their diet, in spite of how it may seem to gardeners and farmers. Because grass is hard to digest, they have adapted by eating their food twice. The first time it goes through their digestive system, it is extracted as dark pellets, which are swallowed whole as soon as they leave the body. The second time through, the waste is left behind as the hard, round brown pellets that most people are familiar with. Donald and Lillian Stokes point out in their "Guide to Animal Tracking and Behavior" that a large number of pellets in an area can be deceiving, since one rabbit may leave behind 250 to 500 droppings per day.

Cottontails like brushy areas near fields. They generally don't dig their own burrows but may borrow holes constructed by other animals like woodchucks and badgers. Instead, they prepare nests, called forms, of flattened grass, where they sleep during the day and rest periodically at night. Females tend to have smaller territories than males, staying within a few hundred square yards to three acres of their birthplace. Males roam a little further-to about eight acres - which allows them to mate with more females. They spend much of their time trimming the grass in their territory to create pathways and boundaries. If chased by a predator, they will stay within their territory, running in circles until they reach a burrow or dense brush that they can dart into for safety.

Rabbits use other ploys to escape predators, as well, including zig-zagging and back tracking, camouflage, freezing and even swimming. If backed into a corner, they may lash out with their powerful hind legs, but, if caught, they stand little chance against a coyote, dog, cat, bobcat or hawk. Normally silent, they cry out in a chilling scream when in pain. (They may also make sounds during mating, when fighting or when something is approaching their nests.)

Rabbits are sometimes mistakenly called rodents because of their large front teeth, which leave an angled cut of twigs they have devoured. That's a sure-fire way to determine what's been eating the saplings you just planted, since deer tear branches when they browse.

If rabbits are ravishing your garden, you can discourage them by burying a mesh fence around it to keep them from digging under. There are also a number of commercial repellants, but they tend to be less effective. You can also attract owls and birds of prey and keep your yard free of hiding places and your grass mowed, since rabbits do not like open spaces. Do the opposite if you want to attract rabbits. Some gardeners, who may not want to go to the trouble and expense of erecting a fence, plant extra crops to allow enough for the rabbits to eat and still have plenty for themselves, a method I finally resorted to after trying a number of other tricks that seemed to work for awhile until the brainy bunnies figured out what I was up to. Laying plastic sheets around my garden and scattering dog hair around the perimeter kept them out for awhile, but eventually the weeds began growing up through the plastic and the dog hair lost its scent and, with it, its repellant qualities.

Rabbits deserve our respect, not simply because they are cute and cuddly but because, like all living organisms, they are an important part of the food chain, providing a source of food for predators and keeping weeds down to manageable numbers.

Caution: rabbits can carry tularemia, a disease that can be contracted by humans through the skin by touching a dead animal that is infected. Symptoms are sluggishness, an inability to run away and acting tame. Never touch a dead animal with your bare hands.

You may email Karen at karen@lakeshoreguardian.com.